“The question now is whether some consumers will continue to stay away from central London and whether tourists will be deterred by the threat of further disruption,”
“No one should be fooled into believing that the slight improvement relative to July indicates a change in trend. Any growth came from heavy discounting, which is not sustainable - especially as retailers' margins are already being squeezed by rising labour, property and energy costs. The underlying position is still weak and unlikely to improve unless and until there are further cuts in interest rates.”
“While most larger retailers have a broad spectrum of suppliers and are not unduly exposed to China, other retailers will be forced to look at sourcing from other low cost countries,”
“[The volume of goods passing across high-street tills fell 1 per cent compared with a year ago, based on the same area of selling space. The British Retail Consortium said it was the eighth consecutive monthly fall and was driven by sharp declines in clothing and footwear and food sales.] The underlying position is weak, ... Retailers margins are already being squeezed by rising labour, property and energy costs.”
“We did not expect any change in interest rates today from the Bank of England, although clearly a further reduction in the run-up to Christmas would have been helpful to both retailers and industry in general.”
“While the growth in November was against a weak comparison in November 2004, it is better than many had expected and the lift out of negative territory is encouraging in itself.”
“This is an impressive like-for-like figure and encouraging news for retailers in the capital, especially considering the severe and very worrying drop in sales seen in July through to October last year.”
“As China remains the greatest hope for bringing unbeatable value to our high streets, we trust the EU will keep its word on defending the rights of consumers and not just a handful of uncompetitive European producers.”
